zits everybodys business
TRANSCRIPT
ECCV DISABILITY POLICY ISSUES PAPER – June 2019
‘It’s Everybody’s Business’ Multicultural Community Perspectives on
Disability and the NDIS
The Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) consulted with migrant and refugee
community members to identify what facilitates or hinders access to the NDIS and other disability
services for them, their families, and their communities.
ECCV wanted to better understand if and how the NDIS has improved
the lives and wellbeing of Victoria’s culturally diverse communities.
We found that many community members face significant difficulties accessing appropriate
disability services, lack adequate knowledge, and are currently prevented from participating and
reaching their full potential in society.
This policy issues paper provides an overview of the multiple and complex challenges faced by
Victorian migrant and refugee communities in accessing the NDIS and understanding the disability
support system. It also includes community and policy recommendations on how to make a real
difference to the lives and wellbeing of people living with disability, their families and carers.
Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria Inc. (ECCV) is the voice of multicultural Victoria. As the peak
policy advocacy body for ethnic and multicultural organisations in Victoria, we are proud to have
been the key advocate for the state’s culturally diverse communities since 1974, providing the link
between multicultural communities, government and the wider community.
© ECCV 2019
This policy issues paper was researched and written by Robert Gruhn, ECCV Senior Policy Officer.
Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria Inc.
Suite 101, 398 Sydney Road
Coburg VIC 3058
T: 03 9354 9555
Table of Contents
Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 3
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 3
Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Background ............................................................................................................................................. 5
Policy context .......................................................................................................................................... 6
Project purpose ....................................................................................................................................... 7
Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 7
Community consultations ....................................................................................................................... 8
1. Key findings ..................................................................................................................................... 8
i. Results from the online survey ............................................................................................... 8
ii. Case studies .......................................................................................................................... 11
iii. Insights from interviews........................................................................................................ 15
2. Community recommendations to improve the NDIS and disability services ............................... 19
Conclusion and ECCV recommendations .............................................................................................. 22
‘It’s Everybody’s Business’
Multicultural Community Perspectives on Disability
and the NDIS
Executive summary
The Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) consulted with migrants and refugees with disability,
their family carers, and multicultural disability workers on their perspectives about enablers and barriers
that culturally diverse communities have experienced accessing the National Disability Insurance Scheme
(NDIS) and disability support services.
In particular, this paper explored:
Levels of knowledge and information about disability, the NDIS and disability services in general;
Lived experiences of migrants and refugees with disability when accessing disability support
services, especially under the NDIS;
Quality of support received from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), and local service
providers;
The role of other community based services, including health providers, in linking culturally diverse
communities to key services.
It is widely acknowledged that culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities face specific
challenges in accessing the NDIS and disability support services. This was confirmed in this paper. The
majority of consulted participants mentioned significant difficulties accessing the NDIS and understanding
the disability support system, making them vulnerable to being left behind.
Community consultations confirmed that people from a migrant or refugee background want a more
culturally responsive disability services system, with more than 90% surveyed indicating that they would
like to see changes such as improved access, greater flexibility, and funding for specialised services.
Culturally diverse communities may also require extra support with self-advocacy, disability literacy, and
NDIS awareness.
ECCV recommends that the NDIA and disability service providers improve their cultural responsiveness,
and that multicultural disability service providers be properly funded and supported. These actions are
fundamental to ensuring equitable access to the NDIS and to the disability support system in general, and
to provide consumers from a culturally diverse background effectively equal opportunities to exercise
choice and control over their lives.
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Acknowledgements
This initiative would not have been possible without the generous support and assistance of many individuals
and organisations. ECCV would like to express its gratitude to its Policy Advisory Committee on Health and
Wellbeing (PACHW) for their valuable guidance, information and feedback. ECCV would also like to thank the
members of the ECCV Disability and NDIS Advocacy Project working group who contributed their time, ideas
and resources to the project. This group, comprising representatives from multicultural, health and
community organisations, greatly assisted the project team to clarify the paper’s purpose, identify required
outcomes, and provide expert advice.
ECCV is also grateful for the strong community support that our consultations received. Many migrants,
refugees and asylum seekers with disability, their families and carers, as well as multicultural and disability
workers, volunteered their valuable time to share their perspectives and experiences.
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Foreword
ECCV consulted with people with disability from migrant and refugee backgrounds, their family carers, as
well as multicultural disability workers, to find out more about the real issues regarding access to the NDIS
and other supports.
Unfortunately, we confirmed that culturally diverse community members and their families still face
significant difficulties accessing a complex disability services system, and are therefore vulnerable to being
left behind by one of the most significant disability reforms ever made in Australia. Many culturally diverse
people with disability face additional disadvantage as they are not fluent in English and lack knowledge about
disability and the services system. They often also struggle to understand how to access a complex disability
support system, advocate for their needs, and clearly and confidently communicate with NDIA and disability
services staff. This is compounded by the fact that service providers are often uninformed or unresponsive to
the impacts that various cultural factors have on different communities and their ability to seek out
appropriate supports and assistance.
The consultation findings presented in this paper confirm that the majority of respondents found accessing
the NDIS difficult, lacked the requisite knowledge, and did not feel there was appropriate support available.
This has led to increased disadvantage, inequality and disengagement for many culturally diverse families
and communities who are often already highly vulnerable. The NDIA and the wider disability and health
sectors need to work more closely together and with the community to assist and reduce the number of
migrants and refugees with disability that are either unable to access the supports they need, or experience
long delays doing so. It is critically important that culturally diverse people with disability play a central role
in developing culturally safe and responsive disability policies, services and supports for their communities.
I would like to commend this paper to policy makers, the NDIA, disability service providers, and anyone
working to empower people with disability to better understand how to support the community and make a
real difference to their wellbeing.
Cr. Kris Pavlidis Chairperson
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Background
ECCV is the peak advocacy organisation for ethnic and multicultural groups in Victoria and consults with
communities to ensure their voices are heard by government in the policy making process, and by the wider
community. ECCV’s Policy Advisory Committee on Health and Wellbeing (PACHW), made up of multicultural
advocates and service representatives, decided to make the NDIS and disability support needs of people
from migrant and refugee backgrounds with disability a priority in its work plan, particularly in relation to
improving access, choice and self-determination. This policy issues paper forms a key component of this
work plan.
Policy context
Launched in July 2013, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a major nationwide reform of
disability support provision in Australia.i The Scheme replaces the previous system of disability care and
supportii with a managed market for services based on the premises of individual choice and control.
Currently around 4.3 million Australians live with disability and the NDIS will, when fully rolled out, provide
about 460,000 Australians with funding for disability supports and services.iii
Over the last few years, both government and the community sector have raised concerns about the cultural
appropriateness of the NDIS and the participation rates of people from culturally and linguistically diverse
(CALD) backgrounds.iv For example, in 2016, a report by AMPARO Advocacy stated that Australian-wide
lower levels of participation by people from CALD backgrounds in the NDIS reflected “a system that has been
designed and developed with policy, processes, and communication and engagement strategies that so far
are struggling to meet the needs of CALD communities”.v In late 2017, only 7 per cent of NDIS participation
plans were being delivered to people identified as being from a culturally diverse backgroundvi, although they
have comparable rates of disability to the general population (18.3%, almost one in five, or 4.3 million
people).vii
The NDIA released its Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Strategy 2018 in May 2018, acknowledging “that
people with disability from a CALD background can face additional challenges in terms of community
inclusion and…their ability to access the NDIS and supports.” viii Notably, the Strategy projected that by 2019
“around 20% of full scheme participants across all regions will be from a CALD background.”ix
Disturbingly, the latest COAG Disability Reform Council Quarterly Report from 31 March 2019 shows that the
proportion of culturally and linguistically diverse NDIS participants (compared to overall participant
numbers), both in Victoria and nationwide, remains far below expected levels (just 9.3% in Victoria).x
In response to the persisting issues around access, navigation and servicing, recent studies have
recommended increases in funding for the NDIS and its programs, including Information, Linkages and
Capacity building (ILC) initiatives, and the adoption of a “comprehensive cultural competence framework” by
the NDIA.xi Other policy recommendations included: better information transfers between services;
removing service restrictions on certain refugee groups; a full implementation of the NDIA CALD Strategy;
and further improvements to NDIS translation and interpreting services.xii It remains to be seen if and how
promptly the suggested changes will be implemented and, if so, whether such measures will make a real
difference to this underserviced and disadvantaged group.
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Project purpose
In response to this policy context, and the issues on the ground raised by PACHW members, ECCV initiated a
consultation to better understand the lived experiences of migrants and refugees with disability, their family
carers, and multicultural disability workers in accessing the NDIS and disability support services. The
consultation was guided by the following questions:
Do culturally diverse families have adequate knowledge and information about disability, the NDIS
and disability services in general?
What are some of the lived experiences of migrants and people from a refugee background when
accessing disability support services, especially those provided under the NDIS?
Do migrants and people from a refugee background feel adequately supported by the NDIA, and
other service providers in their local community?
Does the current skills range and capacity of the workforce in the NDIA and service providers
adequately reflect diverse community needs?
This project aims to give voice to the unique perspectives and experiences of culturally diverse communities,
which are often overlooked in the policy making and service design and delivery process. Specifically it
contributes to the ongoing conversation on how the NDIA Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Strategy can be
effective in shaping a more culturally responsive disability support system.
Methodology
ECCV consulted with migrants and refugees with disability, their families, and multicultural and disability
workers. All consultations were conducted between December 2018 and March 2019 and included both
female and male participants from established and new and emerging communities. They involved:
An online survey: ECCV received 35 valid responses from consumers from a non-English-speaking
background with disability (10), family members/unpaid carers (10), and bicultural disability /
disability workers with migrant or refugee backgrounds (15);1
A focus group with four participants with disability from a migrant or refugee background; and
Interviews, including two members of a refugee community advisory group, two community
leaders (Burmese and South Sudanese communities), one settlement and multicultural disability
worker, six multicultural youth workers, one multicultural community health worker, and one
NDIS community engagement worker.
Most participants agreed to conduct the consultations in English and did not require an interpreter or
support person to be present. A follow-up interview with two members of the refugee community advisory
group required an interpreter, which was provided by the host agency.
In reporting ECCV findings, this paper privileges the quotes from participants in order to maintain their
direct voices.2 In addition to reporting on the survey results, it includes case studies and more in-depth
insights into the experiences and perceptions of participants and their families.
1 One survey respondent skipped the ‘demographic data’ question.
2 The views expressed by participants on the issues discussed do not necessarily reflect ECCV’s views or good service practices as defined by providers.
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1. Key findings
i. Results from the online survey
The online survey, which included fields for comments,
received 35 valid responses. The results, together with
selected quotes, are presented below.
a) General experience of accessing and using disability services in Australia
With regard to the general experience using disability
services, responses ranged from ‘very good’ and ‘OK
and doing their best within funding restrictions’ to ‘no
supports and struggling to get access’. Many
respondents specifically referred to the difficulties
culturally diverse individuals and families face in
understanding and navigating the system. As one
respondent commented:
“It is extremely difficult to speak with the service
providers, let alone [know] what and who is out there
due to language barriers.” Another respondent stated
that it was “generally difficult to navigate and get clear
direction and information as to who to go to for help
or a particular service.”
There also appeared to be a lack of specialised support
for some new and emerging community members with
disability.
b) Main services access issues
When asked to choose from a list of access issues for disability services generally, the top five issues respondents identified were:
Language and/or cultural barriers - 70%
Problems with applying for and receiving disability
services (disability application issues) - 64%
Lack of good resources/information - 60%
Lack of support from disability workers - 45%
Problems with applying for and receiving NDIS
services - 42%
“There are lots of religious and cultural issues with disability that create barriers before we even get to
language barriers.”
“South Sudanese members with disability struggle to get access and support, including being denied
interpreting services when visiting hospitals, Centrelink services and other health related
services.”
Q: If you/your family had problems accessing services, what were the main issues?
Vulnerability in the transition to the NDIS
“I have a son who was born with a disability and he is also vision impaired. Now he is 22 years old. Before the NDIS, he received all the help he needed through many different services and from the health and education department and Centrelink. Last year, he was still attending a program to help people with disability. Now, he’s sitting at home and can’t attend anything. This is because he’s waiting for the NDIS program and till now nothing was done. It has been not good.”
[Survey participant]
Community consultations
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c) Access to services provided under the NDIS
More than half of respondents found it “difficult” to
access services provided under the NDIS, either for
themselves, their family members, or for the person
they supported as a worker. Consistent with previous
ECCV reports, language barriers were cited as a critical
issue,xiii which also impacted on the capacity to find
adequate providers.
Key access issues included:
Language barriers
Lack of understanding of what’s available
Complex assessments and long waiting lists
Inadequate information in community languages
Visa requirements
Lack of culturally responsive support coordination
Eligibility was also a challenge. While refugees on
permanent humanitarian visas are eligible for the
NDIS, vulnerable people on Temporary Protection
Visas, Save Haven Enterprise Visas, and people seeking
asylum on bridging visas are unable to access the
NDIS.xiv
As one respondent commented, “Under the NDIS it's
very difficult. My visa requirements are preventing me
from accessing the supports. People who have TPV and
Safe Haven visas are acknowledged as refugees but we
can't access the system properly.”
d) Access to disability services outside the NDIS
About 45% of respondents found it difficult to access
disability services in general, either for themselves,
their family members, or for the person they support
in a professional capacity. Language barriers,
insufficient knowledge and difficulties navigating the
system, and inadequate information on available
supports were once again mentioned as barriers:
“It's very difficult to access any services. Even though
he's working and studying, he's not eligible for many
services that could help him. And there is not much
information out there where I [as his carer] can get
help, including in other languages than English.”
e) Knowledge about disability, the NDIS and available services
Q: Was it easy or difficult for you and your family to access services provided under the NDIS in Australia?
“We were very grateful to have the funds to be able
to do the stuff needed but being able to find the right provider was difficult. We didn't know where to
start looking and if there was anyone who could help.”
Q: Was it easy or difficult for you and your family to access disability services other than NDIS services in Australia?
Q: Do you think you and your family have good knowledge about disability, the NDIS and the services that are available?
“I do [have good knowledge] because I have been active in the disability self-help sector for over 40
years. But even I get confused sometimes by some of the information provided by different agencies
and authorities. My parents with the language barrier would have had no hope!”
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Knowledge and awareness of disability supports and
the NDIS are still very low. Almost 80% of respondents
reported that they and their families do not have
good knowledge when asked about this issue.
Lack of widely available printed resources in languages
other than English was also a limitation. Several
respondents mentioned the challenge of how and
where to find correct information for people without
high levels of English proficiency. One respondent
commented on the difficulty of understanding
translated information with no support: “I got the
translation but still could not understand clearly how
this worked or how to get services.”
f) Information about disability, the NDIS and other services
More than 90% of respondents did not feel that there
is enough information and help available for people
with disability, their families, and the wider
community. Comments included:
“Reasonable but can be improved.”
“It is difficult to find it and it takes a long time.”
“Don't know where to go, who to turn to [when
faced with] difficulties.”
“No, many organisations make you wait or cannot
help because the money is not enough for what we
need.”
“Should be more than just printed resources.”
“All the online search NDIS information in Chinese
are from NSW.”
g) Local community supports for migrants and refugees
More than half of all survey respondents reported
that they currently don’t know of any person or
organisation in their community that offer migrants
and refugees with disability, assistance or support.
This could be particularly harder for parents who are
working or are on a low income.
The following organisations were listed as providing
various levels of support and information to the
community:
Multicultural and ethno-specific community care
providers
General community and disability service
providers
Migrant and refugee advocacy organisations and
community groups, e.g. ethnic community councils
Community-based health services
Volunteer based community clubs, e.g. sports
clubs
Local councils
h) Support provided by the NDIA and other disability organisations
Q: Do you think there is enough information and help available for people with disability, their families and the larger community?
Q: Do you know of any person or organisation in your community that offers migrants/ refugees with disability and their families assistance and support?
“I rely on one agency. However, this agency has yet to become a provider. [There are] limited social
support programs.”
Q: Do you think the National Disability Insurance Agency and other disability organisations work well with your community and offer good support?
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Three quarters of respondents considered that the
NDIA and other disability organisations are not
working well with their communities.
Several comments related to difficulties experienced
when trying to contact the NDIA for help and
information:
“It’s too hard to approach the NDIA. I needed to wait
for over an hour to have someone [answering] the
phone. When I requested for someone to call me as my
mobile credit was running low, the person from NDIA
told me that they do not call people back!”
Another participant commented positively on the
work undertaken by their local council to raise
awareness about the NDIS:
“They [local councils] try to encourage information
exchanges across agencies and groups, although I still
believe this won’t be enough to overcome some of the
language and cultural barriers. This is because we are
talking about a minority within a minority in the
community."
i) Impact of accessing and using NDIS and other disability services
With regard to the difference disability services and/or
the NDIS had made, respondents often noticed
difficulties to access the Scheme, and need for support
on the early stages. Still, comments added in the
survey suggest that for those who managed to join the
Scheme, the value was acknowledged. One
respondent commented on the difference the new
funding provided under the NDIS had made to her
family:
“With the extra funding, my son is able to access a few
things that he likes to do. And we are able to choose
who we want without getting stuck with anyone! (best
part!) … As unpaid carers, mum and dad still need to
do a lot of navigating and need help to implement the
plan.”
ii. Case studies
In addition to the survey, ECCV collected the following
case studies based on a small focus group held to
better understand the lived experiences of culturally
diverse people with disability and their families. All
names have been changed to protect the privacy of
participants.
Poor communication with the NDIA
“I was told NDIA staff would help me with my son’s plan. I
called the first day and the person I spoke to provided me
with some help. By the second week, all three people that I
had spoken to had left NDIA. It was too hard to start from
the beginning and I got very anxious. For seven months,
my son was left with no supports…When I requested help,
the agency would not call back and their answers were
different each time. I asked them the same questions and
when I complained it took three months until they
contacted me.”
[Survey participant]
“Services help me in my daily life. However in some cultures it is not [appropriate] to ask for help even if
it is really required. Also, people often don’t complain as they fear they will lose a service.”
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Case study 1: Asad’s story
Asad is from Somalia and spent his childhood and early teenage years in refugee camps in Kenya. He had never accessed
any support services even though he lives with a severe physical disability.
Meanings of disability and care
Asad sees a lot of gaps in accessing services for people from African communities. Many people in his community are
struggling with issues such as disability and mental health, which are considered shameful, taboo and carry a stigma that
stops people from talking about them openly. Families who have children with disability, for example, might hide them
from public view and avoid taking them to doctors.
Asad believes that in certain African Australian communities, awareness about the NDIS is very low: “To be honest, there
is literally no awareness in the community about what kind of support services are out there and what the NDIS is… Many
cultural understandings are different and there is a lot of mistrust within the communities but also by service providers.”
Lack of knowledge about the NDIS amongst general practitioners
The general practitioners that Assad previously consulted in Melbourne’s Western suburbs did not seem to understand
the health and disability needs of local African Australian communities, even though GPs are commonly the first door to
health support. He had a particularly negative experience when he attempted to access the NDIS through GPs. Asad had
forms sitting with a doctor for more than a month, with no assistance with the paperwork to put together an NDIS
application. He needed to call the NDIS and explain that the completion of his documents would be delayed. As he recalls,
“At one local medical centre, the GP looked at the documentation and said: ‘National Disability Insurance Scheme? No , no,
no. I can’t do anything with insurance for you’. You know, that is really, really shocking.”
The NDIS as an opportunity for positive change
Asad thinks that the rollout of the NDIS needs to be supported by better and more effective awareness raising and a
different way of engaging with diverse migrant and refugee communities. In his view, the NDIA and the disability services
sector need to better understand what the concept of care means to a particular individual and “break down trust
barriers” before they start to engage with diverse community members and offer particular types of health, mental
health or disability services. As he explains, “These are the stepping stones that are very challenging for the NDIS because
some of these communities just don’t access support services after so many years. They’ve always just done things just for
themselves as a close-knit community.”
Asad worked in the community services industry until 2017 and he considers the NDIS is a great opportunity for positive
change and better support options. For culturally diverse community members, particularly for young men, the NDIS
principles of individual choice and control are a positive step that will improve the perception of community ownership
and engagement with particular community groups. However, for that potential to be realised, those groups must be
heard.
“If someone like me struggles to access the NDIS - someone who worked in community services and knows what
is out there and can search and find support - what is the situation like for the communities that have no support
whatsoever? And this has always been like that. You have the support services and people in the community
who need these services. And then there is this gap somewhere in the middle of all this and people are not being
made aware of these services.”
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Case study 2: Athena’s story
Athena is the primary carer for her child with disability. She talked about her experience with the planning process with a
Local Area Coordinator.
“Nobody showed up or bothered to call us”
“The first meeting with the Local Area Coordinator was scheduled but nobody showed up. Nobody even bothered to call us
or to send a letter that the meeting was cancelled. However, when the office was contacted they were apologetic and the
second meeting was scheduled. But again, nobody showed up. So by the third meeting I was quite frustrated. When I
made the booking I asked: ‘Are you sure somebody is going to show up? Because I don’t want to wa it around all day. I
received no phone calls and no messages that nobody is going to show up.’ At the third scheduled meeting, somebody did
show up. When they came they collected all the information they could get and went back to the NDIS. I then received a
phone call from them saying that they need further information and would like to schedule another meeting.”
“What they should ask is: ‘Why do you think your child needs this?’”
Athena also had negative experiences when trying to plan the appropriate supports for her child and the rest of the
family in a timely manner. At the first planning meetings, she tried to explain that she and her child required support
coordination. Athena is fully capable of communicating in English but indicated she was not able to read the
documentation in English and needed assistance: “I explained to them that I need support coordination. But the NDIS
planner said ‘No, you don’t need that.’ I said ‘But how do we then get the services?’ They said ‘they’ll continue as is’.”
After she received the relevant NDIS documentation paperwork, she was asked to sign. She felt very uncomfortable about
it as she had previously requested support to read English language documents. As she explains, “Well, who’s going to
explain to me all these contracts when I don’t have a support coordinator and I’m unable to read English? So that’s where
the problem was… The services were delayed for eight months before my son got any assistance. That was because I
didn’t know where to turn.”
Supporting families with their NDIS planning
Athena, like respondents that participated in the online survey, voiced serious concerns about the levels of training and
professional skills of staff in the NDIS workforce: “Planners need to understand what the families are asking for. The
families won’t ask for support that is unnecessary. To me it has been shown that they are not adequately being educated.
When I realised that they didn’t really know what they were supposed to know, I thought ‘Aren’t they supposed to be the
planners and the ones understanding what the needs of each individual are and making sure they get the necessary
supports?’”
High staff turnover and unresponsive Local Area Coordination
Athena also struggled with the high turnover of staff, in particular with having to work with different Local Area
Coordinators within short time periods: “During the last six months, I had at least three different ones [Local Area
Coordinators] because they have such a high turnover of staff. As soon as you establish a relationship with one they leave
and you have to pretty much start from the beginning… We are being told ‘Just call your LAC. And then you’d call them.
And it’s pretty much the fifth person for this year.”
The high staff turnover and unclear handover processes also meant that Athena felt her expertise with caring for her child
was not being valued, heard or taken seriously and that she didn’t receive the required support. “From what I
understand, this is what happens: They [NDIS planners] are taking notes but nobody actually knows if those notes will
actually be uploaded for other staff to work with. They say ‘I’m trying to find the notes but can you go through this again?
Imagine someone with multiple disabilities trying to do all of that. You’ve got so many folders with all this information
because they need to see the evidence. But they need to understand that you’re the one that needs support.”
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Case study 3: Rami’s story
Rami is an adult with disability from an Arabic speaking background, who is cared for by his mother as his primary carer,
while his father works fulltime. The family currently lives together in the same house and Rami’s parents provide most of
the assistance he requires. Since he was born, Rami has received some support services through hospitals and health
centres. He is now vision impaired. The family managed to cope quite well until Rami turned eighteen years old and his
health started to deteriorate. It was at this time that his mother became his primary carer. Before the advent of the NDIS,
he attended a program run by an organisation for people with disability that assists people unable to pursue other
educational options, such as TAFE or university.
A couple of years ago, Rami’s parents heard that the NDIS would be rolled out in Victoria. The coordinator of his disability
program told them that they would need to apply for funding if they wanted to receive services in the future and that
their son could no longer use their program and had to go through the NDIS. The family attended a couple of information
sessions where they were assured that “the NDIS will contact them”. Rami’s father expressed the families’ anxiety about
the waiting period for the new system to be put in place.
Access barriers, difficulties navigating the system and lengthy waiting periods
“Since early 2018, they were saying to us ‘The NDIS will contact you. You are on the system and they will help you. You’ll
have to register and once you’re registered you can access those services’ … I did all of that and my family then didn’t hear
anything until 10 months later. We realised it’s going to take to the end of the year or longer. Rami can’t just sit at home
and do nothing. He will be so bored with not doing anything and not being active.”
The family contacted the organisation that previously provided supports to their son, and was told that someone would
contact them, but that did not happen. The parents had to follow up and were informed that Rami was in the system and
registered for a plan. The family then received a letter with a registration number and didn’t hear anything after that. The
parents then followed up again and told the provider, “The year has started, it’s 2019. Rami is staying at home.
Something needs to be done.” Rami then received a second reference number. And then again, nothing happened.
“Every time I called the NDIS they shifted me from one place to another”
Recently, the family attended an information session about the NDIS from a local health care provider. The father
reported: “By that time, my wife had already given up. She said ‘I don’t want to have that service. Leave Rami on what he
has now with Centrelink. And that’s it.’” The father, however, attended several sessions, directly spoke to the relevant
Local Area Coordinators and heard about numbers to call for support: “I can call the NDIS. But every time when I called
them they shifted me from one place to another. They said to us ‘Ah, you have to contact this person. And then this
person.’ And they didn’t help us. But I said to them ‘Now that you’re doing these info sessions and you’re not helping us, I
don’t understand this?’ Then they said ‘We make an appointment for you.’” He went to the local NDIS service provider
and was allocated a Local Area Coordinator.
Local Area Coordination and lack of culturally responsive supports
As the family is from an Arabic speaking background they had hoped to be provided with an Arabic speaking worker, but
this didn’t happen. Rami’s father said “We had some problems in communicating with this person, especially with my wife,
so I had to attend a couple of sessions myself and give up my time of work to attend those meetings.” The family was
finally assisted to put a plan and to submit it to the NDIA. After more than a year’s wait, the NDIA finally approved the
plan for Rami in March 2019. Rami’s parents remained confused about the application process and what led to a plan
finally being approved. His father decided to participate in the ECCV consultation to voice their concerns about culturally
diverse participants and their families being left behind in a non-transparent, complex and disjointed NDIS and disability
services system.
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iii. Insights from interviews
ECCV conducted interviews with multicultural and
disability sector experts to gain further insights into
the NDIS experience of migrants and refugees with
disability, and their families and carers.
Refugee community advisory group
ECCV participated in late 2018 in a group conversation
about disability services and self-advocacy with newly
arrived Arabic speaking people living with disability or
caring for someone with disability.3 The key themes
that emerged from that conversation included:
Significant challenges to gaining approval for NDIS
services
Long waiting periods for receiving disability
services, including under the NDIS
Complicated services
Lack of support for fulltime family carers
(especially older carers) and their exhaustion.
Several participants pointed out that newly arrived
people from refugee background often have a culture
“to just take things as they are and to not ask for their
rights.” They reported that refugees are too scared to
complain about any life circumstances, including the
lack or low quality of services and supports. They often
want to be “humble and polite” and do not have the
courage to ask for more.
3 This group meeting was facilitated by a refugee health and community service provider.
Burmese and South Sudanese community
leaders
ECCV consulted with leaders from Victoria’s Burmese
and South Sudanese communities. In line with the
survey results and the personal stories shared during
the focus group session, they highlighted as the main
issues their communities face in accessing and
navigating the NDIS and disability services system:
Language barriers, which prevent families from
refugee backgrounds from knowing where to find
and how to access the services they need.
Stigma and shame, which prevents people from
pro actively pursuing access to available support
Lack of cultural responsiveness in mainstream
services system.
The NDIS planning process,xv with the formal
‘Western-style’ interview process including many
“Why is it so difficult to raise your voice? You’d keep quiet and don’t speak out.”
In an individual follow up interview, Jana* spoke with ECCV
through an interpreter. Her son lives with a disability and has
challenging behaviours. She reports that her family was
initially “ignored by services and weren’t made to feel
welcome”. Communications were not carried out in an
appropriate manner by various service providers, and when
they asked for something, she usually didn’t receive any
answer or feedback. The situation is ongoing and very
challenging for the family.
The family has been trying to register for the NDIS for the
last nine months. They haven’t heard anything for a long
time and there is no confirmation that their son will get a
plan, despite the fact that they received confirmation that he
had been accepted into the NDIS. While waiting, the family
has been referred to a number of support organisations, but
none of them could provide culturally responsive services:
‘They just come and sit around the table and then leave. And
there is no follow up.’ And there was nobody she could talk to
in Arabic. She is very worried, stressed and sad. The family
feels a lot of pressure as they are not being helped
adequately. There is turbulence in their lives and upheaval.
She says ‘We have nobody here.’”
(*Name has been changed)
“I’m a part of it and I know it. I’ve been a refugee myself and I know what the landscape looks like. Without us it will take them [service providers] a
long time.”
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complex questions which families find
overwhelming.
Negative experiences, which are quickly spread
into communities and can discourage others to
access the NDIS.
Community programs and services that are often
not accessible to culturally diverse people.
Scarcity of multicultural bilingual disability workers
to facilitate service access and bridge the gap
between providers and diverse service users.
Lack of funding and management training to
ethno-specific and multicultural disability service
providers which can serve ‘hard to reach’
communities and families.
Settlement and multicultural disability worker
One culturally diverse respondent who also works in
the multicultural disability sector emphasised the
importance of overcoming cultural and language
barriers to improve the NDIS. He was very positive
about the Scheme’s aim to give participants choice
and control over the use of their allocated funding:
However, he believes that people need to be taught
the skills and supported in building the confidence to
be able to do that well, particularly as they may have
never been in a position before to make such
important decisions about their lives. Based on his
experience, he felt that many people with migrant and
refugee backgrounds do not feel comfortable to speak
up as they are scared of the consequences.
The interviewee argued that one of the most
important things culturally diverse communities need
is to learn the skills to self-advocate and to be
empowered to speak up when they are excluded from
public life or offered substandard services. As he
explained:
“People are now getting the money directly but they
still don’t know where to go and what to use it for…
That’s why our CALD parents’ groups that deliver
important information to them in culturally responsive
ways are so critical, as it helps them to understand
how the NDIS system works. ”
While he considered the NDIS website to be “generally
good”, he was disappointed by the lack of detailed
information on the implementation of the CALD
Strategy. He also stressed that the NDIA needs to
engage service users, including culturally diverse
people with disability, beyond consultation, to involve
them in implementation and management of the NDIS
as “they are the ones who know how it is to live with
disability and understand what works and what
doesn’t.”
Multicultural community workers working
with young refugees
ECCV also conducted a focus group with six staff
members from a multicultural agency that supports
young refugees with disabilities who arrived in
Australia without their parents. They highlighted the
following critical issues:
People from refugee backgrounds with mental
health conditions. Focus group members were
concerned that services for people with serious
mental health conditions will roll over into the
NDIS. This means that people from refugee
backgrounds with severe mental health conditions
on temporary visas will not be able to access these
vital services.
Children and young people from refugee
background. Several group members also raised
the issue of unaccompanied minors who are on
Safe Haven Enterprise Visas or Temporary
Protection Visas and are therefore ineligible for
the NDIS. They were also concerned that children
who turn 18 years old will be unable to live
independently in supported accommodation, for
example, as they will lose all of their supports.
“There is a certain way of empowering the community and this needs to be set up. The families
who desperately need the support are already known to us and they are here [in Melbourne’s South East]. They won’t take the car and visit
providers outside their local community.”
“The NDIS in theory is a great idea as it is now all about what people want who use these services.
Compared to before this is completely new and an opportunity for inclusion and self-determination.”
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Privately funded disability accommodation was
considered to be too costly for this group.
Access barriers and lack of culturally appropriate
disability education for refugee communities.
Several staff members voiced concerns about the
lack of education around disability for refugees
living with disability and their families and
communities. They were particularly concerned
with newly arrived families who lack access to the
health and disability system and do not receive
appropriate assistance to navigate the services and
supports available for them. One person
commented:
“Who walks the family through that process? This
is even an issue for families who are very familiar
with English. They say ‘this is so confusing.’ I
myself had to go to my local council to speak to
someone to explain things to me. If you struggle
with English this is much more difficult... let alone
the conceptual ideas around the NDIS.”
Another staff member mentioned that in many
communities, identification of intellectual
disabilities can be very challenging:
“Intellectual disabilities, in particular, are not
properly communicated to the person and also
their families. And they often don’t know what a
disability is. They don’t have the concept. And
these sorts of things are not spoken about which
just adds to the problem. And often there is no
word for it in their language.”
Multicultural community health worker
perspectives
ECCV interviewed a community health worker from a
health provider. The interviewee highlighted the
following as being most critical for the new and
emerging communities that she works with:
Improving community understanding of the NDIS
eligibility criteria, and how to access and manage
the NDIS plan and funding.
Educating new and emerging communities around
the principles of self-management and choice,
which were not part of past experiences.
Increasing disability literacy across providers, health services and schools.
Providing communities with opportunities for face-to-face contact, encouraging them to visit NDIS-registered providers’ offices and “to talk to someone directly”.
The interviewee highlighted that the principles
embedded in the NDIS are good, as they allow service
provision in a more tailored manner. However, she
points out that “vulnerable communities are falling
through the cracks.”
NDIS community engagement worker
ECCV consulted with an NDIS community engagement
worker who advocates for better family supports and
advises community members, advocacy organisations
and health services on how to best respond to the new
system and the rollout of the NDIS. The key challenges
that the engagement worker raised were aggregated
around three themes:
Health and disability services system
Language and cultural barriers make it more
difficult for providers to connect people to the
right clinical services.
Health and mental health services, including
specialists, do not know where to refer people,
even when they require NDIS services.
Health services still do not adequately engage
interpreters when working with linguistically
diverse consumers.
The health and disability services system remains
largely unresponsive to diverse needs: “It’s about
“There is only so much support we can provide. And it’s hard because our role is supposed to be to
prepare them to move into their own place. But we have nowhere for them to go.”
“Staff knew how to refer people [before the NDIS rollout started] but now some of those consumers
are not eligible any longer for NDIS services.”
“Bureaucracy, I am stunned by the bureaucracy. How then do people cope if language and culture is
a factor? Everything is designed to confuse.”
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respectful engagement, of understanding where
people are at today and to know what might help
them to better understand the Australian way of
life. But if there is no willingness to meet people
where they are at, I think they will feel that there is
nothing genuine behind that [NDIS principles of
choice and control] at all.”
Currently, there is a great unmet need for more
community development and education around
mental health, and about which mental health
support services will be covered by the NDIS.
Challenges to access, plan for and navigate the NDIS
NDIS services were considered to be “of big help”
once people have settled in their local community.
However, they often require their mental health
and/or disability needs to be met immediately.
Resources and materials about the NDIS were
considered to be “too convoluted and
conceptual”.
Family carers find it very hard to deal with all the
operational tasks the NDIS and health services
require, and also struggle with service planning.
Once they are accepted for NDIS services, many
culturally diverse families are unsure about how to
best utilise their package and find the supports
they require.
Family and carer supports challenged under NDIS
Interestingly, the move to individual choice under
the NDIS has made family support more difficult to
provide. The family and carer support options
previously available were more flexible and more
family sensitive and culturally responsive, as they
did not disadvantage migrant and refugee
communities that operate as a “communal
whole”.
“The old forms of respite allowed you all to go on a trip as a family. And the change of place was
actually the rest, the change of scenery. The fact that you would go for nice walks and that you were
no longer doing the housework - that was much more acknowledging of cultural groups.”
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2. Community recommendations to improve the
NDIS and disability services
More than 90% of respondents called for changes to
be made in order to make the NDIS and other services
more accessible and work better. Throughout the
consultation ECCV asked participants for suggestions
on what those changes should be. This section
summarises their inputs.
a. Increase awareness and one on one support
Strengthen NDIS awareness-raising and community engagement
Community feedback strongly indicates an urgent
need for more NDIS awareness raising and community
engagement activities to build a more general
understanding in culturally diverse communities about
the NDIS and other disability and health services.
Encouragingly, the Victorian Department of Health and
Human Services (DHHS) is currently funding ECCV and
other organisations to support culturally and
linguistically diverse people with disability, and their
families and carers, to access the NDIS across
Victoria.xvi This tailored engagement is fundamental to
ensure that multicultural consumers have equal
opportunities to learn about their rights in relation to
the NDIS and other disability supports.
The feedback also emphasised the work of Local Area
Coordinators (LACs) as critical for communities to
engage with the NDIS and to link them to appropriate
supports. However, one participant commented that
from his experience, LACs still need to do much more
to work with local ethnic and multicultural
communities:
“I’m not aware that local LACs want to engage with
our local African communities. Actually, we’re the ones
[small ethnic provider] chasing to work with them. But
nobody approached us or members of our community.”
Improve supports for culturally diverse NDIS participants in planning and decision-making
A number of survey and focus group participants also
wanted culturally diverse people with disability and
their families to be better supported in the planning
and decision-making for NDIS funding and supports.
One multicultural disability worker commented on the
difficulty of understanding how to build a strong case
for an appropriately funded NDIS plan:
“Some people might have never been asked before
what their aspirations are in their lives and all the
decisions were always made by someone else for them.
They never had a say in anything. And suddenly they
are having all this choice and control. This might sound
good to someone who grew up in a society that taught
individualism and independence but this is not the case
for all communities.”
The NDIA Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Strategy
2018 rightly outlines that “accessible and in-language
information enables people to access information,
communicate their needs and make informed
decisions.” The Strategy states that its anticipated
Implementation Guide will contain key activities
including in relation to “participant access and
planning processes.” However, more than a year after
Q: Do you think changes should be made to the NDIS and other disability services to make them work better for you, your family and the community?
“We need more information and someone who can guide us as a family with limited knowledge of how things work in Australia. We are new to the system
and do not feel empowered to make a choice of provider and understand what the options are.”
“Let people know and make them understand that there are professional social services outside their
family there for you to access. That’d already help.”
“People don’t know how to build a strong case for themselves, for example how to express themselves
in interviews for an NDIS plan.”
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publication of the CALD Strategy, the Implementation
Guide has not been released.xvii
Strengthen community involvement in policy and service design and delivery
The NDIA previously stated that it plans to “involve
culturally diverse communities and their
representatives” in the “development of tools and
approaches” to enhance their cultural responsiveness.
It will also be critically important to strengthen
community capacity, not only in service design but also
in the provision of NDIS and disability services and
supports. This is particularly so for smaller or isolated
ethnic community members with disability, as they
tend not to seek help outside their community and
trusted networks. A well-designed capacity building
program would provide much needed education,
training and employment pathways for job-seeking
migrants and people from refugee backgrounds.
Strengthen self-advocacy: ‘Nothing about us without us’
The NDIA states that it “helps empower and inform
people with disability to be confident consumers”.xviii
However, community feedback strongly indicates that
people need support to develop self-confidence and
skills to be able to manage their own supports. One
interviewee commented: “People don’t feel
comfortable to complain and to speak up and are
scared of the consequences when they complain. For
example, they would be scared to lose their funding if
they complain openly about the system.”
Organisations such as Migrant Resource Centre North
West Region are actively working to support people
with disability from a CALD background to advocate
for themselves.xix Community self-advocacy programs
need to be recognised and strengthened as they
deliver vital opportunities for culturally diverse people
with disability to improve their independence,
knowledge and opportunities.
b. Improve cultural responsiveness of the NDIS and disability and health services
Develop a culturally safe and responsive disability and health workforce
Various participants agreed that having a culturally
diverse workforce and employing migrants and people
from refugee backgrounds would greatly assist with
developing culturally responsive and safe
organisations and a more responsive workforce.
Several respondents suggested providers need to be
more aware of how cultural and linguistic background
impacts on people’s access to supports. In particular,
they mentioned the importance of regular cultural
responsiveness and safety training for NDIA staff, NDIS
providers, and health services and GPs.
Train GPs and other mainstream health services in cultural responsiveness and disability/NDIS
Consultation participants also emphasised the ‘gate
keeper’ role health providers play for disability
supports, including the NDIS. They considered it
essential for health providers to have good knowledge
about the NDIS and disability sector, and to know the
right pathways to direct people for assistance. One
person commented on this critical role as the link
between new and emerging communities and other
supports:
“Involve community members in service delivery, training and policy making [to make it become more]
tailored to particular ethnic communities.”
“The NDIA needs to engage more with culturally diverse people with disabilities. They need to involve
more people with disability in the implementation and management of the NDIS generally as they are the ones who know how it is to live with disability and understand what works and what doesn’t.”
“Silence is acceptance. We should raise our voice and give our feedback… The CALD community needs
confidence-building and empowerment.”
“The NDIS needs to try and keep staff there. Very few have knowledge that can help us. They need to be better trained and help people when they need it. With no case management it was very hard for
my family.”
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“GPs need to be taught about the NDIS. They are at the
frontline and a critical support that people have and
they have no idea when it comes to the NDIS. I’ve
noticed that they are the only people the community
actually talks to [outside of their community]. So the
first person who could actually engage with them on
the NDIS would probably be the GP.”
In this regard, it is important to not only improve GP
skills and knowledge around the NDIS, but also to
increase knowledge on how to identify people with
disability, assist consumers with the required
documentation, and give referrals to appropriate
services and support.
Support and adequately fund multicultural disability networks and providers
Several respondents considered the role of small
ethnic and multicultural community support
organisations to be vital, even if they are limited in
their reach and capacity.
There was support for increasing the reach and
capacity of these organisations, so that they can
properly deliver disability services and supports
provided under the NDIS.
Further, participants mentioned that these
organisations should be supported to employ
culturally and linguistically diverse community
members, so as to increase trust of and engagement
with disability services and the NDIS within these
communities. Small multicultural organisations were
considered to be better placed than large providers to
support their communities, and not only in disability
services. One respondent specifically commented on
this:
“Absolutely, I’ve seen this personally. Especially the
ones that work with younger generations on resilience.
But you have to have that big support for governance
and you need a proper vision to create specific support
services for particular communities.”
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Conclusion and ECCV recommendations
This paper explored the diverse experiences and often challenging reality of what it means to be a culturally diverse
person living with disability or caring for someone with disability seeking to access services. ECCV’s consultations
confirmed that for many, difficulties accessing the NDIS and other disability supports in a culturally responsive and
timely manner lead to frustrations, delays, an inability to access services, and continuing disadvantage and
discrimination.
Improving the NDIS and disability services outcomes for culturally diverse populations should be a high priority for
the Federal and Victorian Governments. In particular, priority should be given to regions that have high numbers of
migrants and refugees with disability that do not or cannot yet access the NDIS and other community disability
supports and health services. Moreover, to provide culturally responsive and safe NDIS funded services and other
disability supports, providers need to understand varying cultural contexts and individual beliefs.xx
More specialised, community-based and integrated disability services are required to address the gap experienced
by people wishing to participate in the NDIS, and the providers endeavouring to assist them. The multicultural
disability sector will continue to play a critical role in providing care for culturally diverse groups, particularly as it will
increasingly deliver NDIS funded services that improve the lives of diverse participants.
Importantly, migrant and refugee communities need to be at the centre of the development of programs, services
and community supports that will connect them to the NDIS and the disability and health services system. As one
participant in the consultation summarised, it is vital to ask people “what works for your community?”, rather than
assuming that we know what they want.
ECCV recommendations
Based on the community feedback and recommendations, and considering that the NDIS should promote
equitable access for all, ECCV recommends:
1. That the Federal and Victorian Governments provide adequate resources and support to:
The NDIA to fully realise the NDIA CALD Strategy, including delivering on a measurable and
actionable implementation plan in a timely manner.
Increase service capacity by supporting community based, multicultural disability service providers
to strengthen their governance, business and professional development, and helping to establish
supports for underserviced community groups, particularly smaller or isolated local communities.
Require that disability and health providers engage multicultural bilingual staff and professional
language services.
Establish and deliver mandatory cultural responsiveness training for NDIA staff and disability service
providers, and make it accessible to other disability, health, settlement and community workers
that work with migrants and refugees with disability, and their families.
Equip settlement and health frontline staff, including general practitioners, with adequate
knowledge about disability, including trauma and mental health, to assist them in their role in
linking people to appropriate and culturally responsive and safe services.
2. That the Federal and Victorian Governments and disability/NDIS providers actively engage in community
outreach, including consumer awareness raising campaigns, and promote available NDIS and other
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disability services to culturally diverse communities, particularly those with low health literacy and
disability awareness.
3. That the Federal and Victorian Governments encourage local collaborations between multicultural
disability networks, community based disability providers, settlement services and health providers to
design and deliver more culturally appropriate and good practice NDIS and disability supports.
4. That the Federal and Victorian Governments provide assistance to local multicultural and ethnic
community networks, centres and organisations, so that they can deliver culturally appropriate disability
education and self-advocacy programs.
5. That the Federal and Victorian Governments provide clear and comprehensive access to the NDIS and
other disability supports for refugees and people seeking asylum, including those on temporary visas.xxi
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Endnotes
i National Disability Insurance Agency, National Disability Insurance Agency [Accessed, 09.05.2019]
ii Department of Social Services, National Disability Insurance Scheme, Commonwealth Programmes transitioning to the NDIS
[Accessed 10.05.2019]
iii National Disability Insurance Agency, What is the NDIS? [Accessed 09.05.2019]
iv See, for example, Australian Government, 2018, Australian Government response to the Joint Standing Committee on the
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) report: Transitional arrangements for the NDIS
v AMPARO Advocacy, Oct 2016, The NDIS and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities: Aiming high for equitable access
in Queensland, p.5 vi Settlement Services International, 2018, SSI Occasional Paper 2, Still outside the tent. Cultural diversity and disability in a time
of reform – a rapid review of evidence, p. 3
vii ABS, 2015, 4430.0 - Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings, 2015 [Accessed 10.05.2019]
viii National Disability Insurance Agency, 2018, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Strategy [Accessed 10.05.2019]
ix National Disability Insurance Agency, 2018, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Strategy 2018, p. 5
x NDIA, 2019, Quarterly Reports, COAG Disability Reform Council Quarterly Report 31 March 2019, p. 128
xi Settlement Services International, 2018, SSI Occasional Paper 2, Still outside the tent. Cultural diversity and disability in a time
of reform – a rapid review of evidence, p. 22
xii See: FECCA, NEDA, RCOA, SCOA, Feb 2019, BARRIERS AND EXCLUSIONS: The support needs of newly arrived refugees with a
disability, pp. 4-5
xiii ECCV, 2018, ‘Falling Through the Cracks’ Community Perspectives on Asylum Seeker and Refugee Mental Health, p. 7
xiv See, for example, FECCA, NEDA, RCOA, SCOA, Feb 2019, BARRIERS AND EXCLUSIONS: The support needs of newly arrived
refugees with a disability, p. 19
xv The need for training for culturally diverse communities to better understand how to develop and implement an NDIS Plan has
previously been raised in e.g. The University of Sydney, 2018, Mind the Gap: The National Disability Insurance Scheme and psychosocial disability xvi
For further information, please see ECCV NDIS Transition Projects [Accessed 08.05.2019]
xvii National Disability Insurance Agency, 2018, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Strategy [Accessed 10.05.2019]
xviii NDIS website, National Disability Insurance Agency [Accessed 09.05.2019]
xix Migrant Resource Centre North West Region, Disability Services, Diversity & Disability Program [Accessed 09.05.2019]
xx Varying religious contexts and beliefs and their impacts are not discussed as these issues were not explicitly raised during the
consultations.
xxi This recommendation is in line with a recent report specifically examining the needs of refugees with disability. See FECCA,
NEDA, RCOA, SCOA, Feb 2019, BARRIERS AND EXCLUSIONS: The support needs of newly arrived refugees with a disability, p. 4
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About ECCV’s Policy Issues Papers
ECCV’s policy issues papers are comprehensive overviews
from our consultations with culturally diverse Victorian
communities. Culturally diverse community members,
advocates and service providers are invited to attend
forums and focus groups or participate in in-depth
interviews and surveys on a variety of topical, evolving and
complex issues that concern multicultural individuals,
communities and organisations.
ECCV gives a voice to multicultural Victoria on issues that
matter. The information we present is a combination of
direct quotes and information gathered from consultation
participants, policy analysis and human observation
grounded in ECCV’s consultations with multicultural
Victorians for over 45 years.
For more information please contact Zuleika Arashiro, ECCV Advocacy Leader, at [email protected] or by phone on (03) 03 9112 5015.
Image by Robert Gruhn (Front and back covers: ‘The World Is Ours’), Melbourne CBD, street artist unknown
www.eccv.org.au